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The Hundred Years War

1337-1457; series of conflicts, spanning more than 100 years, between England and France.

Ever since William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, was proclaimed king of England in 1066, the English had claimed a foothold in France. In 1337, angered by the French king Philip VI's confiscation of English-held Gascony, King Edward III of England proclaimed himself "King of France." This gesture sparked a war that lasted 120 years, with four distinct phases.

 In the first phase, Edward won decisive battles, particularly at Sluys, in 1340, where he destroyed the French fleet, and at Crecy, in 1346, where English longbows proved superior to French crossbows. A truce made in 1350 was broken a year later by Edward's son, "the Black Prince," who captured the French king at the Battle of Poitiers.

Between 1369 and 1412, the French gradually recouped many of their losses, destroying the English fleet at La Rochelle in 1373.

The third phase began in 1412, when King Henry V of England took Harfleur and achieved a stunning victory at Agincourt against enormous odds. Victorious at Agincourt, Henry V took Caen in 1417, Falaise and Cherbourg in 1418, then besieged Rouen, chief city of the area. The garrison (Guy de Boutillier) prepared for a stubborn siege by expelling non-combatants from the city. But the English refused to allow these people through the siege lines, and 12,000 of them suffered dreadful hardships, in winter weather, between the opposing forces. An attempt to relieve the fortress was unsuccessful, and it surrendered on January 19, 1419. In the Treaty of Troyes, signed in 1420, England gained control of northern France.

The French struggle revived under the leadership of Joan of Arc, who broke the English siege of Orleans in 1429. The Battle of Formigny, in 1450, marked the end of English rule in Normandy. The English withdrew to Bordeaux, and during the last battle--at Castillon in 1453--the new French cannon triumphed over the longbow. England ended the war bankrupt, with Calais its only remaining foothold in France.

Crecy (or Cressy) 26^th August 1346

 Edward III's small army of 10,000 English defeated Philip VI's French-Genoese army of 24,000. The French losses were eleven princes, 1,200 knights and 8,000 others--a total greater than the entire English army. The battle was the first in which an English army was mainly formed of infantry; mounted men were shown to be powerless against English archers. The victory made England a major European military power, while the English longbow became the most deadly weapon of its era.

 Poitiers 19^th September 1351

 Between 7,000 English, under Edward the Black Prince, and 18,000 French, under King John II of France. The English, who had been deep-raiding, took up strong positions behind lanes and vineyards, in which their archers were posted. Showers of arrows from the English archers demoralized the French cavalry, charging up the lanes. They were then charged from the flank by the English knights and men-at-arms and routed with a loss of 8,000 killed and numerous prisoners, including the king. His ransom was £500,000. English losses were light.

Harfleur August-September 1415

Henry V landed 10,000 men at the mouth of the Seine, mid-August, and laid siege to Harfleur, chief port of northwest France, on August 19. On its surrender, (22^nd September)  Henry expelled the French inhabitants and encouraged English immigration. His army reduced to 5,000, Henry marched towards Calais--and the battle of Agincourt. 

Agincourt 25 October 1415

Henry V, having captured Harfleur with his army of 6,000 (often mistakenly said to number 15,000), crossed the Somme and was confronted by a French army of 50,000 under the Constable d'Albret. The English archers protected their front with a palisade of stakes which broke the charge of the French. Casualties: English, 1,600; French, 10,000 killed, including the Constable and three dukes, and15,000 prisoners.

  Verneuil 17^th August 1424 

The French, already severely mauled by the English army (Duke of Bedford) and their Burgundian allies, decided on an all-out assault against their English enemies. They put together an army of 10,000 Orleanists, led by the Scottish Constable of France (who was also the Earl of Buchan), and 5,000 Scots, led by the Earl of Douglas, Buchan's father-in-law. Bedford had only 9,000 men but, armed with the deadly longbow--range 250 yards--and protected by a line of pointed stakes, they held off the French-Scottish charges. The Duke of Alencon tried a flanking attack, but was captured. After losing 7,000 men the allied survivors fled across the Loire. Douglas and Buchan were among the many Scottish killed. Eclipsed only by Agincourt, Verneuil was a vivid example of English military skill of the period.

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